Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Open stoping
- Cemented backfill
- Paste backfill
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 2034 |
Kittilä mine is the largest gold mine in Europe. |
Source:
p. 30
The Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd's operations in Finland are conducted through its indirect subsidiary, Agnico Eagle Finland Oy, which owns the Kittila mine.
Contractors
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Summary:
The Kittila mine is situated within the Kittila Greenstone belt, part of the Lapland Greenstone belt in the Proterozoic-age Svecofennian geologic province. The appearance and geology of the area is similar to that of the Abitibi region of the Canadian Shield. In northern Finland, the bedrock is typically covered by a thin but uniform blanket of unconsolidated glacial till. Bedrock exposures are scarce and irregularly distributed.
The mine area is underlain by mafic volcanic and sedimentary rocks metamorphosed to greenschist assemblages and assigned to the Kittila group. The major rock units trend north to north-northeast and are near-vertical. The volcanics are further sub-divided into iron-rich tholeiitic basalts located to the west and magnesium-rich tholeiitic basalt, coarse volcaniclastic units, graphitic schist and minor chemical sedimentary rocks located to the east. The contact between these two rock units consists of a transitional zone (the "Porkonen Formation") varying between 50 and 200 metres in thickness. This zone is strongly sheared, brecciated and characterized by intense hydrothermal alteration and gold mineralization, features consistent with major brittle-ductile deformation zones. The zone is part of a major north-northeast-oriented shear zone (the "Suurikuusikko Trend").
The Porkonen Formation hosts the Kittila gold deposit, which contains multiple mineralized zones stretching over a strike length of more than 25 kilometres. Most of ........

Mining Methods
- Open stoping
- Cemented backfill
- Paste backfill
Summary:
Mining at Kittila started initially using the open pit mining method. Open pit mining ended in November 2012 and all mining is currently carried out underground via ramp access.
At the Kittila mine, the Suurikuusikko, the Rouravaara and the Rimpi orebodies are currently mined by underground mining methods accessed via ramp. Approximately 5,000 to 5,500 tonnes of ore per day are fed to the processing plant. The underground mining method is open stoping with delayed backfill. Stopes are between 25 and 40 metres high and yield between 8,000 and 40,000 tonnes of ore per stope. To ensure sufficient ore production is available in the future to supply the mill, 15,000 to 17,000 metres of tunnels will be developed each year. After extraction, stopes are filled with paste backfill or cemented backfill to enable the safe extraction of ore in adjacent stopes. Ore is trucked to the surface crusher via the ramp access system.
On February 14, 2018, the board of directors of the Company approved the construction of a 1,044 metre deep shaft, a processing plant expansion as well as other infrastructure and service upgrades.
At year-end 2021, total progress on the shaft sinking project was approximately 70% complete. Shaft sinking is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022. Commissioning of the production hoist is expected in late 2022 or early 2023.
Source:
Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Production:
Commodity | Units | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Gold
|
oz
| ...... ^ | ......  | ......  | ......  | 188,979 | 196,938 | 202,508 |
Silver
|
koz
| | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  | ......  |
All production numbers are expressed as payable metal.
^ Guidance / Forecast.
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
Tonnes milled
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 1,590,902 t | 1,827,335 t | 1,684,626 t |
Ore tonnes mined
| ......  | ......  | ......  | | | |
Daily processing capacity
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 3,750 t | 3,750 t | 3,750 t |
Daily processing rate
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 4,359 t | 5,005 t | 4,615 t |
Annual processing capacity
| ......  | ......  | ......  | | | |
Daily ore mining rate
| ......  | ......  | ......  | 5,000 t | 5,000 t | 5,000 t |
^ Guidance / Forecast.
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Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Category | OreType | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
1,080 kt
|
Gold
|
3.85 g/t
|
133 koz
|
Probable
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
26,754 kt
|
Gold
|
4.26 g/t
|
3,661 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
27,833 kt
|
Gold
|
4.24 g/t
|
3,794 koz
|
Measured
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
4,447 kt
|
Gold
|
2.59 g/t
|
370 koz
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
229 kt
|
Gold
|
3.41 g/t
|
25 koz
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
18,843 kt
|
Gold
|
2.6 g/t
|
1,576 koz
|
Indicated
|
Total
|
19,072 kt
|
Gold
|
2.61 g/t
|
1,601 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
229 kt
|
Gold
|
3.41 g/t
|
25 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
23,290 kt
|
Gold
|
2.6 g/t
|
1,946 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
Total
|
23,519 kt
|
Gold
|
2.61 g/t
|
1,971 koz
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
373 kt
|
Gold
|
3.89 g/t
|
47 koz
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
6,921 kt
|
Gold
|
4.89 g/t
|
1,088 koz
|
Inferred
|
Total
|
7,294 kt
|
Gold
|
4.84 g/t
|
1,135 koz
|
Heavy Mobile Equipment as of December 15, 2022:
HME Type | Model | Quantity |
Drill jumbo (two boom)
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Mine Management:
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Staff:
Employees | Total Workforce | Year |
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2021
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2020
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2019
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2018
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2017
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2016
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2015
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2014
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Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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